St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1887-11-24

to me the best part, and surely the
best example is that of the blessed Sa-
viour Himself, who 'came not to be
ministered to, but to minister who
went about doing good and followed
up days of toll with nights of prayer
Yes, my dear, the necessity of serving
is evidently laid upon you, and you
have not the choice of your part in life,
but the manner in which you act your
part is within your power. Don't for
get, dear child, that you serve the
Lord Christ and Whatsoever you do,
do it heartily as unto Him. He has
taken journey into IA far country now,
but he will come again to inspect your
work be faithful, dear Annie, and
watch and pray"
That little talk with Miss Judith did
me real good. My little talks with her
always do, and mother says she is the
greatest possible comfort to her, for
she shows her how useful one may be,
even where one has only sympathy
and counsel to bestow and father says
that there is healing and strengthen
ing power in her words, which is far
better than gift of silver and gold,
for it enables you to "rise up and walk"
under the burden of life.
The children certainly did bear the
privations we underwent well, but
Katie said to me privately one night,
81 never did want something good to
eat as badly in my life. l am real glad
Thanksgiving day is so near" But
when the day before Thanksgiving
came. and mother asked if | should get
anything different for dinner next day,
father shook his head with such de-
cided "no" that there was nothing
more to be said, but it was undOubted-
ly a change; We had never known
what it was not to have turkey and
pudding then. | was most grIeved,
however, at the thought of not having
my usual present for Miss Judith. l
had always, on that day, carried her In
her dinner, and on the waiter five
dollar bill but as went up stairs at
night, father slipped five dollars into
my hand, saying, "This is for Miss Jul
dith, Annie. We must not forget, in
our efforts to retrench, the debt we owe
our Heavenly Father"
That was enough to put me In a
proper frame for the next day, even if
| had not already had sufficient to be
thankful for. l had quite made up my
mind that mother was to go to church,
and let me mind Harry, but there was
great deal of persuading necessary to
get her up to the point. However, L
succeeded at last, and after they were
all gone and | had washed up the
breakfast things, Master Harry began
to show symptoms of sleepiness, so L
tucked him in his little cradle, aud be-
gan rocking him to and fro, singing all
| the while one of Miss Judith's favOrite
hymns.
Over and over | sang it, till at last
the white lids closed, and | getting up
softly to slip away, when ting ling !!
went the door bell, with such a sound
through the house that Harry stirred,
then opened his blue eyes to their full
est extent, and | was obliged to get
him quiet again before answering the
bell. When at last | did go down, 10 !!
not Il creature was to be seen: only Il
hamper basket covered with a white
| cloth with paper pinned on top, on
which was written "FOr Mr.. Gray I;
from Il friend.n
1t was just as much as | could do to
get the basket into the kitchen, and
then, chi the good things that met
my eyes. First of all, turkey ready
dressed, then a roll of golden butter,
then several jars of sausage-meat and
jelly, then Il bunch of celery, and last
great iced cake. This completed
the contents, but no; as lifted out the
lower cloth there lay a sealed envelope
directed, aslthe basket had been, to
father. This | laid aside until his re-
turn, but what to do about the other
things was puzzling. They are clearly
intended for fathers Thanksgiving
dinner, thought, but unless the tur-
key is put to roast right away it won't
be done in time. Shall |, or shall
not | said to myself. Then | remem
bered how feeble dear mother looked
when she set out how she feared the
services would be too much for her
strength. Yes, | said decidedly, by
way of answering my doubts, warm
nourishing dinner will be just what she
needs, and so, without more ado, | set
to work. The baby (bless his little
heart y was real good, and let me, get
we'll "under way" before he walked
up. There was no keeping the
secret of the dinner, however, when
the front door was once opened, for the
savory odor of the roasting turkey told
the tale at once, and the whole party
hurried into the kitchen to find out
what it meant.
"Oh, father !" | said, when the ex
CARNATIONS over the first part of my re-
cital had sufficiently subsidized to adj
nit of my getting in word, "there
was a letter for you in the basket,
too"
"This will give us the name of the
donor" said he, as he opened it. But,
no indeed, there was no name inside,
only some notes neatly folded. give,
ten, fifteen, twenty, twenty-five dol
lars" said father, counting them out
on the table. "GOd be praised for all
His mercies, and God bless the giver !"
said he, fervently, while mother turn
ed away to get Miss Judith's dinner
ready, and hide her tears, for poor
mother was actually crying.
"Take this, too, ANNIE" said father,
putting another five on the one already
lying on the waiter, when at last it was
ready for me to take in. Of course [
had to stop and tell Miss Judith the
wonderful news about the basket, and
when l got back again mother was
putting the last dish on the table;
then, going to our places, we stood
with bowed heads while father said the
grace l had always been accustomed to
hear, but which seemed to have gain
ed new meaning and beauty
"Supply the wants of others, Lord,
and give us grateful hearts, for Christ's
sake"
We never knew the secret of that
Thanksgiving basket, nor did we ever
inquire into it, but we all had IA notion
that DR.. Armstrong could have thrown
light upon the subject if he had chosen
to.
Senator Edmunds on Horseback.